


Cold Snap

by Crimstar



Category: Ai no Kusabi
Genre: Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-02
Updated: 2014-07-02
Packaged: 2018-02-07 02:44:57
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,481
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1882104
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crimstar/pseuds/Crimstar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A sudden cold snap in the middle of a sub-zero Amoian winter leads Riki to reveal an emotional and upsetting reality of life in the slums.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cold Snap

Flipping through a copy of Tanagura Quarterly, Iason felt the creeping fingers of a chill grasp at his spine. He looked up from his journal, hoping to catch Daryl walking by so he could ask him to put more wood on the fire. The perceptive youth was already heading toward the fireplace, one step ahead of his Master. The mousy-haired youth tossed two more maple logs into the fire and poked it a bit to even out the coals. He wanted to make sure the new logs caught fire rapidly, adding their warmth to the room. While it was not customary for a blondie to thank his furniture for performing a task, nor would the furniture ever expect it, Iason nodded his head at Daryl appreciatively. The youth smiled his thanks and bowed before retreating to sit down nearby, making sure to stay out of Iason’s sightlines. Furniture were taught to be as unobtrusive as possible; to avoid being seen while remaining nearby in case their master needed something. Daryl was so quiet and small that he had easily mastered the art of blending into rooms; melting away into a shadowed corner or lurking attentively just out of sight in a darkened hallway as though he had been doing so all his life.

Iason would never say so, but he was grateful to have such an attentive furniture. He’d acquired Daryl three years before and in that time the youth had proven to be far better at anticipating his needs than any other furniture the blonde had previously owned. Especially now that the weather had turned cold, the boy’s perceptiveness was greatly appreciated. With Tanagura in the midst of a seasonal cold snap the fires needed more tending than Iason cared to take care of himself and Daryl was very well suited to the job, having never let a fire go out. The antiquated heating method wasn’t necessary in the penthouse; the advancements in heating coil technology made room to room temperature control as easy as giving a voice command, but Iason insisted on having a fire going regardless. He enjoyed the crackling sound and popping sparks and appreciated the warm atmosphere and charm that a fire gave to a room. Though wood logs were pricey to import, Iason made sure that there were always fires going in the Great Hall and Master Bedroom during the winter months. There were few pleasures he enjoyed more than sitting by the fire after work, Riki in his lap, and a glass of wine in hand.

Speaking of Riki, Iason hadn’t seen any sign of the boy in quite a while. Not since Dinner, actually. Where was he? He looked around him, but the mongrel didn’t appear to be in the Great Hall. He debated sending Daryl to locate the boy, but decided instead to locate the rogue pet himself. Iason laid his journal down and got up to begin his search. As it turned out, the blondie didn’t have to go very far.

As he was walking out of the hall to check the mongrel’s suite he glanced outside and noticed his pet out on the balcony. The youth was huddled in his favorite leather jacket, the one he had brought with him from Ceres. Iason frowned. It was hardly warm enough outside for such a thin coat. After retrieving a thick winter cloak for himself, the blonde headed out into the freezing wind to collect his pet.

“Riki!” he called irritably. “What are you doing out in this weather without proper attire?”

The mongrel didn’t even bother to turn around he just held up his hand and waggled a smoke between stiff fingers. “Smoking. And this is _proper attire_. I’m wearing a jacket aren’t I?”

This answer did nothing to appease Iason who approached him with a stern look of disapproval on his face. He stepped over the small skiffs of ice-crusted snow that patchworked the hard stone terrace.

“I don’t care if you’re smoking. You will come inside out of the cold this instant.”

Riki ignored Iason and just kept looking at the glittering lights of the city that sprawled out below them. Twinkling and flashing in colorful bursts, the lights struggled to shine under the frozen blanket of snow and ice that was attempting to snuff them out. As always the familiar black shape on the Western edge of the city, the one with only a few isolated pockets of light, drew his attention. Ceres was always visible to Riki, but at night it was far easier to see. In the sea of light it stood out like a jagged black bite taken out of an otherwise pristine spread of glittering splendor. The sight of it always filled Riki with a sense of longing and sadness, but even more so on nights like this when it was so bone-numbingly cold. Back in Ceres Riki remembered people saying that piss would freeze solid before it hit the ground on nights like this.  He’d never seen it happen, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t possible.

Iason put a hand on Riki’s shoulder and squeezed. His pet was far colder to the touch than he’d expected and the blonde immediately pulled the mongrel back against his body and wrapped his cloak around them both. “You’re freezing, Riki! Come inside.”

Riki didn’t resist being wrapped in his Master’s cloak, but he didn’t want to go inside just yet.

“I don’t want to.”

“ _Riki,_ ” Iason replied in an exasperated tone, “you can smoke later once this wind dies down.”

“It’s not about that.”

Iason stared down at him, confused. “Then what _is_ this about, pet?”

Riki’s voice quieted. “I just…need to do something.”

“What could you possibly need to do out here in this atrocious weather that can’t wait until it’s warmer?”

Riki sighed, closing his eyes. “You wouldn’t understand.”

The blondie held his pet closer to him. His voice softened. “What wouldn’t I understand? Please, Riki, come inside and we can talk about this where it’s warm.”

Lulled by the enveloping warmth of the cloak and comforted by the firm reassuring body of his Master pressed up against him, Riki gave in to his overwhelming internal emotions and began to weep.

Iason was alarmed by this sudden shift in his pet’s demeanor. “Riki? Are you alright? What’s wrong, love?”

Riki responded by turning in Iason’s arms and leaning against him stiffly, his hands clenched into trembling fists at his sides. Iason put his arms around the mongrel and the youth clung to him, shaking as his emotions poured out.

Iason made the executive decision to pick his pet up and carry him inside. Riki didn’t seem to care that he was being picked up, he just clung to Iason’s neck, sniffling and taking ragged breaths. In addition to trembling shoulders wracked with sobs, his pet was also shivering quite badly, meaning he’d been colder than he’d let on right from the start. Why were human’s so recklessly stubborn? Iason wondered as he carried Riki swiftly down the hall and into the master bedroom.

“I’m such a piece of shit!” Riki wept pathetically when Iason laid him down on the bed. The blonde lay down beside him and pulled the youth to his body. Using his cloak as a blanket he threw it out in a large arc that covered both of them.

“No you are not.”

“Yes I am!”

“What brought this on so suddenly, Riki?”

“I told you that you wouldn’t understand!”

Iason wasn’t going to let Riki avoid the subject any longer. He was incredibly concerned by this downward shift in the mongrel’s mood and needed to know what was wrong as soon as possible.. “You did say that, but you haven’t tried explaining it to me either. Please, Riki tell me what’s wrong.”

The mongrel quieted down except for the occasional hiccupping sob. “I just feel so guilty,” he murmured weakly, his voice wavering.

“Guilty about what?”

“Being _here_.”

This answer was not what Iason had been expecting and his face displayed his shaken curiosity. “Being in Eos? I’m afraid I don’t understand why that’s cause for you to feel guilty, Riki. Can you explain?”

“Someone’s going to die. Fuck, I just know it. And I’m…here.”

“What do—?”

“I told you you wouldn’t understand!” The youth cried exasperatedly.

Iason hugged the boy tighter. He was _trying_ to understand, but Riki was so emotional it was difficult to get to the root cause.

“Riki, I’m trying to follow what you’re saying. You said someone is going to die? Who, pet? And how do you know?” The blondie wondered who his pet had been talking to. Had Katze said something to him, perhaps?

Riki sniffed and rubbed his nose. “Whenever there’s a temperature drop like this,” he explained in a weak drone, “there’s always someone…that doesn’t make it. Always.”

Iason had the barest inkling of what his pet was getting at, but it was enough to direct his questions. “Riki, are you talking about people in Ceres? Other mongrels?”

The black-haired youth was silent, but he nodded his head as he wiped his eyes.

“We’ve all lost someone to the cold,” Riki reflected hoarsely. “Unit generators are all we’ve got in Ceres and no matter how many of ‘em you have they don’t ever completely take the chill out of your bones. During a cold snap like this people huddle up together in one apartment to keep warm, combining generators and building heat together, you know? But some people--old ones and young ones usually--they…they don’t have anyone, or they don’t know no better. They just…die.”

“Oh, Riki…” Iason sighed sympathetically, hugging his pet close. He had no idea that this was such a common occurrence in the slums and it was hard for him to understand not having a basic necessity like heat. The fire crackling merrily in the fireplace nearby seemed to mock Riki’s suffering with every charismatic pop of sparks. “Is that why you feel guilty? Because you’re not out there right now trying to stay warm? Is that why you were out on the balcony?”

The emergence of Riki’s leather jacket all of a sudden made sense to the intelligent blonde. Iason knew Riki had several appropriately constructed winter jackets he could have chosen from that would have been warmer, yet he still chose his beat up leather bomber. It must have been some attempt to show solidarity, to be out there in the cold in his Bison leathers like that.

“Yeah,” Riki replied dimly. “I just wanted them to know I was with them, that I felt for them. Thought maybe they’d feel it somehow, I don’t know. It was a stupid idea anyway.”

Iason cuddled his pet close, loving him. He rubbed his arms and caressed his chest tenderly as they lay there. “I don’t think it was stupid. You were trying to do something, even if you knew it wouldn’t be able to help them.”

Riki frowned. “You’re right, it didn’t help them. When this weather clears up there’s going to be more people to add to the list of mongrels this shithole of a planet has taken out.”

Iason lay quiet for several minutes, taking in what his pet had said. It was horrifying for the blonde, so accustomed to the upper echelons of society, to imagine his pet huddled with several other men in a small, dirty room full of whirring heat generators, trying not to freeze to death. The thought struck a strange chord in his heart that he was not overly familiar with. Compassion, he thought it was called. Though he felt no love for any other mongrel besides his pet, the image—and the feeling—stuck with him. Once he was out of the care of Guardian, Riki would have had to make it through three winters on his own in the slums, Iason reasoned, and for each of those years he’d paid a dear price. He now had to carry the memories of those lost due to a shortage of something people in Midas and Tanagura barely paid a passing thought to.

“Riki?” Iason began thoughtfully.

“Mmm?” Riki grunted bitterly.

“Perhaps I could talk to Katze about this. He could easily procure a shipment of heat generators to take down to Ceres. He’d make sure they’d be handed out fairly. This weather is supposed to last for another week and if what you said is true then perhaps—”

Riki rolled over onto his other side, facing Iason. He gave his master a look of touched astonishment. “Iason, you…you would really do that?”

“Would it help ease your guilt?”

Riki nodded his head. “It would.”

Iason leaned forward and kissed his pet’s forehead affectionately. “Then of course I will. Katze should still be awake, I’ll call him now and—”

Iason’s words were cut off. Riki kissed him with zero warning. The blonde could feel the gratitude in his pet’s lips; in his tongue; in his breath. The mongrel made soft sounds and Iason savored each one as he would a symphony composed and performed for him, and him alone.

Riki pulled away a few moments later, his hand still on Iason’s face.

“Thank you. Nobody ever—people don’t give a shit about mongrels and…just thank you. You don’t know how much this means to me. How much it will mean to them.”

Iason’s expression turned serious. “If I had known about this, Riki…if I had known that you felt this way, I would have offered to do something sooner. I’m not entirely devoid of empathy you know.” The blondie reached out and stroked his pet’s cheek with the backs of his fingers. “Riki, I told you before that I want you to be happy here with me. If you want something, all you have to do is ask and if it is within my power to give it to you, I will do so.”

“I never thought to ask,” Riki replied honestly. “I’m still not used to…to all of this.” He flicked his eyes around the opulent room they were in. Imported tropical plants Riki couldn’t name and two story windows dressed in flowing chocolate and white draperies surrounded them. “I don’t think I ever will get used to it. In the slums you don’t ask anybody for anything or else you end up owing favors to half the guys there and believe me that is _not_ a position you want to be in.”

Riki shuddered and then felt guilt set in for an entirely different reason. He had been one of the people others asked for favors back when he’d been the leader of Bison.  Protection, smokes, booze, food, whatever they wanted he could usually provide: for a fee. Paper credits were often scarce, stolen credit discs even more so, but fortunately there was another form of currency in the slums…

Riki had never lacked for a warm body in his bed because of his connections and though he wasn’t proud of it, he knew nobody would bear him any ill will either. He’d paid his dues just like everyone else. When he’d been fresh out of Guardian he’d had to play bottom bitch to a lot of older guys to get what he needed to survive; eventually he made it up through the rank and file and took his place as an alpha male. He’d earned it and nobody would say different. Call it extortion or forced prostitution of whatever, but it was just how things worked in Ceres and the people there accepted it. Those that couldn’t get with the program didn’t make it very long.

Iason hugged his pet closer. “I’m sure you will adjust, little love.”

Riki made a half-hearted grimace at the affectionate moniker he had secretly come to enjoy and followed it with a shrug. “I don’t think so. You’ve got more credits than ten people could ever spend in a lifetime.”

“Probably closer to a thousand, I’d say.”

Riki’s jaw dropped. “Are you serious? Do you fucking _own_ the planet or something? I’m sure you have enough money to buy it if you don’t.”

Iason laughed quietly at this grandiose statement. “No, but now that you mention it, the thought has crossed my mind to purchase a moon somewhere. Unfortunately the available moons in my price range are just too far away to be practical. You know what they say: location, location, location.”

Riki rolled onto his back and put a hand over his eyes. “Please tell me you’re joking.”

Iason moved closer and nuzzled his pet’s exposed neck, deliciously framed in supple black leather. “Have you ever known me to tell jokes?”

Hand still over his eyes, Riki smiled, but then quickly made a half-hearted grumpy noise low in his throat. “Stop that,” he whined, “you’re making me horny.”

“When has that ever been a problem?”

“I’m not done being sad yet so piss off.”

Iason ignored the rude dismissal and kissed Riki’s jaw just beneath his ear. He felt his pet shudder. “I think I can change your mind,” he whispered in a sultry voice.

The blonde got up on his knees and put one on either side of his pet’s hips. He then began to methodically dot kisses over Riki’s jaw, throat and neck, and occasionally his lips.

Riki resisted at first, but soon gave in and wrapped his arms around Iason’s neck.

“Just hurry up and fuck me,” the mongrel demanded in true slum-dog form, kissing his Master roughly.

Iason did not need to be told twice. He immediately began stripping off Riki’s clothes, kissing him back aggressively. Riki helped wriggle out of his clothing as best he could and was soon sprawled naked under the towering blonde. There was something about being completely naked while Iason hovered above him fully clothed that tightened things low in the mongrel’s body. He moaned, reaching down to start stroking himself as Iason kissed his chest and sucked on his nipples. Riki’s free arm was raised above his head, grasping the pillow tightly.

“ _Mmm,_ yeah…” The mongrel moaned, as Iason began to travel lower. When the blonde’s tongue dipped into Riki’s navel it made the boy gasp and arch his back.

“Come on,” Riki pleaded, “don’t tease me!”

Iason’s smile was hidden by his hair as he brushed his lips over Riki’s cock. The mongrel’s hips twitched and he moaned impatiently, but the blondie didn’t take the boy into his mouth. Instead he grabbed his hips and flipped him over onto his stomach.

“On your knees, pet,” he ordered, his voice heady and suggestive. Riki eagerly did as he was told, raising himself up onto his knees and swaying his hips back and forth enticingly. Iason took the bait, though not in the manner the mongrel had intended. A loud gasp of surprise was tailed by a deeply rooted moan when Riki felt his Master’s tongue flick against his ass.

“ _Fuck yes…”_ Riki panted, moving his hips to invite more stimulation.

Iason reached forward and pulled Riki’s cock back through his legs so he could alternate between sucking him and teasing his ass with his tongue.

“Holy fuck!” Riki exclaimed. He was beside himself with pleasure and didn’t know whether to thrust or grind backward. “You better hurry up and fuck me soon! I’m gonna come if you keep _ah!—_ at that.”

Iason didn’t care if his pet came now or came later, but he reasoned that the mongrel wouldn’t have said something if he’d wanted to come from oral stimulation alone.

“Very well.”

The blonde reached over to the stand beside the bed and retrieved a vial of oil from inside the top drawer. He returned to Riki’s side and began to liberally apply it to his own immense organ. Riki was slowly pumping himself once more as he watched Iason lubricate himself.

“You’re so fucking sexy,” the mongrel declared amorously. His voice was deep and thick with lust and he watched his Master with hungry eyes.

“As are you, pretty pet.” Iason repositioned himself behind Riki and reached under the boy’s body. Forcing the youth’s hand away from his cock Iason stroked it himself with a well lubricated hand. Riki sighed and hissed and bucked his hips against his Master’s hand. It was as much an attempt to pleasure himself as it was to get Iason to let go.

“S-stop! _Nnn…_ wanna come with you inside,” he panted laboriously.

Iason complied with his pet’s wishes and dropped the boy’s rigid cock. Riki sighed with relief and pressed his head against the bed, arching his back and preparing himself for what was coming next. Sex with Iason had once been overwhelmingly painful for the pet, who size-wise was much smaller than his Blondie Master. That was no longer the case. Riki had adjusted to Iason’s size over time and was now so well broken-in that he barely needed more than some initial patience and a good amount of oil to be ready for him.

Iason teased his pet by rubbing himself firmly over the mongrel’s portal.

“It’s remarkable to me,” Iason mused in a teasing voice, “that something so delicate and pink can open up wide enough to devour something so big and naughty.”

Riki was enjoying the rubbing, but could have done without the embarrassing commentary about his “delicate pink” asshole. He blushed and turned his head around to shoot Iason a dirty look. “Fuck off and just do it already! Please Iason, I can’t take anymore…I need it.” This last came out as a desperate pleading whine.

Iason laughed and gave in to his pet’s demands. “Very well then. I’m coming in,” he announced quietly before starting to press into his pet’s body. As always the mongrel was warm and exquisitely tight and Iason shuddered as he slowly pressed inward.

“Go slow!” Riki gasped, his voice straining. _“Nnn…_ ah, fuck!”

Iason obliged him and allowed the mongrel’s body to tell him when he was ready for more. Slowly, he rocked his hips with very little pressure, moving in and out fractions of an inch each time and making space for himself inside his pet’s small body. Finally, after a couple of minutes, Iason slid past the constrictive outer-most ring of muscle that was squeezing him so wonderfully and slid the rest of the way in with ease.

Riki let out a long shuddering gasp. His muscles quivered and shook from the sudden release of tension and he was panting and sweating already. Though Iason was finally inside, the blonde did not move any further. The warm restrictive passage of his pet always let him know when the boy was ready for more and after taking a minute to adjust fully, the mongrel began to rock back against him. He was ready.

Increasing his own movement, Iason began to pull his pet’s hips back against him, sliding in and out of him rhythmically, matching the drawn out panting gasps and languid moans of his pet as he fucked him slow and deep.

“Fuck _, yes,”_ Riki groaned, raising his hips to meet Iason’s forward thrusts. The occasional squelching sound as their bodies came together was paired with Riki’s enthusiastic moaning and panting. Iason contributed little to their encounter, he was very much a silent partner when they made love, but Riki had learned to pick up non-verbal cues from the blonde that let him know he was enjoying himself. Finger tips digging into the flesh of his hips, an increase in the speed of his thrusts and increased heaviness in his breathing were just a few such silent cues.  

“ _Mmnn_ …close!” Riki warned, reaching down to stroke himself in time to Iason’s pounding thrusts. He made sure to stimulate the sensitive head of his cock, teasing his rolled-back foreskin with a fingertip at the same time. Iason and Riki differed in many ways, but in their genitals there was more difference than just size alone. Iason’s body was based on a high-end sexaroid model android; an exotic device that had no need for its own pleasure, just that of its partners, therefore the blondie was circumcised. Riki on the other hand was uncut. Everyone in Ceres was. The Guardian wasn’t going to waste money on a completely unnecessary medical procedure that made newborn infants crankier and more prone to infections.

Iason’s had been the first penis Riki had ever seen without a foreskin and it had completely freaked him out at first. Iason had been forced to explain the difference to him in a somewhat awkward manner. The sight of Riki’s genitals on the other hand had not surprised Iason in the least. Circumcision in pets was left to the breeder’s discretion with some breeds of pets being known for trimmed labia and foreskin. It gave them an aesthetic point of interest that some buyers preferred. Ultimately, it was based on personal taste and the pet’s pleasure was not taken into account at all. Iason had been rather indifferent about the appearance of pet genitalia and had owned several with and several without modification.

Looking was one thing. Touching and interacting were completely different things altogether. Exploring Riki’s body—and his uncut erection—for the first time, had been an interesting affair for Iason. It had simultaneously been his first, and his last, awkward sexual experience.

Pushing thoughts of it from his mind, Iason noticed his pet stimulating himself and quickly took over the task, reaching under him to grasp his cock.

Riki shuddered and moaned, stretching both arms out underneath him to loosely holding the backs of his knees. Through gritted teeth, Riki hissed, “ _Harder.”_

“As you wish,” Iason replied thickly, his own orgasm approaching rapidly. He lifted his pet’s hips and put a hand on his back, angling him and increasing the depth and velocity of his thrusts. It wasn’t by much, but it was enough to send Riki over the edge.

“Fuck _, yes_ just like tha--!”

The mongrel’s voice was cut off by a strangled cry, a sound that was distinctly his, as he shot his essence all over the bed beneath him. He continued his beautiful sex-cries as Iason continued to pound into his body, wracking it with shudders and spasms of pleasure. His voice echoed through the cavernous room so loudly that Daryl, who was two rooms away, was able to hear it.

Iason had not been far behind and his pet’s beautiful sex-cries and contracting depths sent him careening over the edge of his own orgasmic precipice.

A deep shudder ran through him as all of his senses ignited with pleasure. He arched his back as he came deep inside his pet, letting out a heavy moaning sex cry that sent a tingle down Riki’s spine.

Panting, Iason leaned forward and rested on his pet’s back, hugging him from underneath with one arm and peppering his neck with slow, loving kisses. Riki rolled his neck and sighed contentedly. He would never say so out loud, but he really enjoyed when Iason loved on him like this, lavishing him with affection and making him feel like the only person in the world who mattered. He turned his upper body around as far as he could, seeking his Master’s mouth. The blonde automatically shifted to match the modified position and passionately engaged his pet in a loving kiss, communicating his affection physically through lips and tongue.

As different as the two of them were, the mongrel and his Master were always on equal ground after they made love and Riki relished the quiet moments following sex. Iason did as well. They kissed gently for some time until eventually Riki could no longer stay up on his arms and collapsed onto the soft bed in a contented  smiling heap.  Iason was still on top of him and he laughed before making mock death sounds. “You’re crushing me,” he wheezed dramatically.

Iason laughed quietly. “Apologies, pet.” He rolled off the boy, pulling his softening member out of him at the same time. Riki shivered and moaned appreciatively as his Master slid out. The blonde lay down beside his pet, his head propped up on his hand. Riki turned his head to look at his Master and smiled. They laid thus for some time, just staring at each other in comfortable, satiated silence.

Iason reached a hand out and stroked his pet’s face. “You are exquisite,” he stated warmly. “I could look at you for days and never grow tired of your face.”

Riki smiled and stretched confidently. “Yah, well, I am pretty great aren’t I?” The mongrel replied jokingly. “You know, you’re not too hard on the eyes yourself either.”

Iason laughed warmly and pulled his pet into his arms. “You are the most endearing creature, Riki. I don’t know what I would do without you.”

Riki said nothing, but cuddled into his Master’s embrace all the same. He never said anything in return when Iason professed his feelings for him. He couldn’t. Pride alone kept him from saying what he knew lay in his heart: that he loved Iason and would never be able to leave him. Even during his year of freedom in Ceres he had never slept with anyone. He had barely touched himself. His heart had ached constantly and he frequently woke up in the middle of the night, reaching out for a body that wasn’t there. If Iason held the door open to him now, he didn’t think he’d have the heart to go. He’d just changed too much and loved Iason too deeply.

His rebellious actions now were more so in response to the restrictions Iason placed on him as a pet, but not against Iason himself. Riki knew the way their society functioned and he knew first hand that Iason had to appease not only Orphe, the blondie in charge of pet administration in Eos who was constantly breathing down his neck, but also Jupiter. An expertly woven web of charm, deceit and flattery was all that kept Riki by Iason’s side. Having talked to Katze about this very subject in the Underground, Riki knew how fragile the web actually was. The restrictions Iason placed on him were for his own safety as much as they were for upholding social propriety, because as Riki knew all too well, there were laws that even Iason was not above. In truth, every day they were together brought his Master into further contention with Orphe and Jupiter and he knew, one day, Iason’s luck in skirting their demands would run out. One day they would make Iason give him up and when that day came the mongrel didn’t know what was going to happen to him.

“Iason?” Riki asked quietly.

“Yes, love?”

“You’re not…ever going sell me, are you?”

Iason looked down at his pet quizzically. What had brought this on all of a sudden? “Of course not, Riki.” His reply held a finality that was somehow comforting to Riki. “What brought this on?”

“I just figure it’s bound to happen one day.”

Iason was still confused. “And why would I ever sell you?”

“Because Orphe has it out for me and Jupiter hates my guts.”

Iason sighed, irritated that Orphe had somehow managed to wriggle into his bedroom like the snake he was. “Riki I will never sell you. I will never let you go and it doesn’t matter what Orphe or Jupiter have to say on the matter.”

He stroked the boy’s hair as he held him. “You are mine, now and always.”

“But what if—”

“Shh…” Iason interrupted gently, “don’t even venture down that road.”

The blondie could feel through the tension in his pet’s shoulders that his fears had not been abated. Lowering his head and raising the mongrel’s chin he looked Riki in the eyes. “If Jupiter ever orders me to sell you directly, you and I will discreetly relocate to Aristia where I will enjoy an early retirement with you at my side.”

“What if Jupiter ever takes me from you?”

Iason knew this was a possibility, but he would never let it happen. He would leave Amoi if he felt it was going to come to that. He kissed the boy softly, lovingly. “I would part galaxies of stars to find you.”

This answer soothed Riki’s anxiety and he relaxed into Iason’s arms. The tension eased from his face and was replaced by a tired yawn.

“I care about you a lot,” The mongrel murmured, eyes already closed.

Iason smiled. Closing his own eyes he whispered, “I love you too, Riki.”

The mongrel didn’t hear his Master’s reply. Exhausted by the evening’s events he had already drifted off to sleep; images of warm Aristian beaches and flurries of snow moving in gentle waves through his dreams.


End file.
